This is all an illusion.
But there is truth within illusions.
And when the illusion fades,
the truth will still resonate within you.

Friday, March 31, 2017

170331 Daejeon - Yoosung Spa, Ppuri Park, Jungang

kinda had trouble sleeping at night cos it was eerily quiet and super pitch dark. so i switched on the tv to fill the room with some noise. woke up around 11+ and got ready to pack and check out. booked my hostel yesterday night, so it will be the first stop of the day. it's located at jungang, which is just a stop away or near euneungjeongi streets.

Again, it's supposed to be a straight walk of about 10mins to my hostel from where i dropped off. but i over-walked and had to backtrack =_= got the hostel from Booking.com and it was strange the address couldn't show up on google maps so i had to rely on booking.com's strange google map connection (where its gps just wouldn't work). Tried to locate Guesthouse Sky Garden and i kept being directed to like a part of korea that's several hours away.

In any case, found my hostel and was greeted by a nice old lady who spoke english to me (at this point, I just wanted to be completely foreign and use english wherever i go). This is the reception/breakfast/lounge area. Looks so cozy!

And here's my room. Fortunately or unfortunately (due to the eerie motel i wanted some human beings) there's no one staying so i get the whole room. choped the bottom bunk. Love the curtains that helps keep privacy should there be more people staying in. The place is also clean, and the blankets soft and warm :D haven't stayed in a nice hostel for so long! there's also toothbrush and some lady's product (cotton, hair ties), and a towel provided.

common room with hair dryer.. there's even a straightener. hehe.

The ajummu and her husband (i presume) helped guide me on my trips for the day. Simple train ride to get to Yoosung Spa, and from there a straight bus to Ppuri Park. So here we go~!

Reached Yoosung in less than 40mins via train. Stopped by the tourist centre to check my directions, and headed to the hotel. Unfortunately i wasn't really in the mood to spa so early, but i did want to access the free public foot spa. The receptionist told me to take a left just outside the hotel. so i took a left, and a left and i just walked all AROUND the hotel and couldn't find it. i think i practically walked over to the Yoosung market or the next station, and then ended up back at the hotel again. And i realised, it's just in front of the hotel =_= another 1hr taking a big round to find something that is IN FRONT of me this time.

Thought i could give my darling feet a soak.. but i realised the spa HAS NO WATER. gosh. perhaps it's because it's still winter.... T_T oh well. having done nothing significant here, i thought about whether i should visit the fish market instead, which means going back to the place i came from... but no matter where i turn i couldn't find it again =_= Instead, i chanced by a place that sells roe rice at 6k won! Decided to go in for lunch, but the shopkeeper says it's NOT OPENED. she's just standing there watching TV. i don't know about the dining habits here but it's so irritating. decided to leave goddamn yoosung and headed for Ppuri park instead.

While waiting for the bus to come in 8mins, I was hungry so i went to a convenience store just near it and found a nice sausage cheese fried rice ball. Didn't realise it comes with a free choco milk till the nice ahjussi placed it at the table together for me. Both at just 1,500 won. whippee~!! It's yummy too~!

Bus came and i took it. AND I REALISED I TOOK THE WRONG DIRECTION. just how many times do i need to go wrong. bleahs. thankfully i only wasted about 30mins since it was just like 15mins to the end of the bus route and another 10mins or so waiting for the bus to start again. The bus uncle was so nice, he didn't charge me for the second ride and entertained me during the few stops since there was no one.

Finally reached my Ppuri park (aka Roots park). It was about 4.45 when i reached, and the entrance uncle told me that i can go in for free from 5pm onwards. He let me in nevertheless without a ticket. yay, 2000 won saved!

Ppuri park is Roots park, and as the name suggest it's where the roots are. Here it's more to refer to Korean ancestry. Hence there's totems placed all around inscribed with the origins of each surname. Here's the map of all the surnames:

Of cos there's only 2 surnames that I bother to look at:

i looked at Lee for fun, because it's such a huge chunk!!

Here we go!

and i found Kong while climbing up~ can you see the totem is built in the shape of Kong in chinese character?

here's the peak!

took a panorama of the view. there's nobody around at all. maybe cos it's pretty late (closing times of all museums are roughly around 5.30pm). maybe cos it's raining... or maybe cos the park ain't that nice without the spring bloom, although there were already tiny bugs whizzing around.

time to climb to the other peak which has a pavilion

greeted by the 12 zodiacs!

had to find my friend first...

followed by my next best friend..

having climbed so far, needed to take a rest. and i've got almost the whole park to myself anyway so i can do whatever. lol.

ok, enough selfies time to head down and find my ancestry.

yas, here it is! crescent sceptre anyone? hehehehehe so nice~

weather was not so nice so i quickly finished up my tour and took the next bus that came back to jungang.

here's a miniature of the whole park i found in the indoor museum btw

I guess it was a good thing i shopped the streets yesterday cos the rain was so terrible i had to stay underground. and thankfully, the underground shopping wasn't too bad! at the end of the lane i actually found decent udon too. kimchi! it was much spicier than expected.

Took a long walk back to my hostel cos i got lost again and ended up in front of a police station. Thankfully, it had already stopped raining so i could take my own sweet time, and the friendly lady cop also showed me the way home. yay~ Daejeon people are so nice!

Last day in Daejeon, but at least i get to enjoy the hostel breakfast before i go, whee~~~ not too bad for a 25,000won/night eh?